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Hello--
We closed on our new-construction house a month ago in Derry. Husband is living in the house now and the kids and I are moving in at the end of June. I mentioned to him that I'd like to get a rain barrel and he said it might be tough to collect the rainwater from the roof as we have no gutters on the house! Is this typical? The builder (through his agent) told us that he doesn't put them on because of all the snow/ice in the winter breaks them off. Is this something that happens a lot? How do I use a rain barrel without gutters? This is all new to me, so I apologize if you're thinking, "Geez, this lady doesn't know anything at all!" :-)
winter roof ice can take their toll on gutters. I have them on my house. they clog up with leaves in the fall and massive ice in the winter. Lots of extra work in having them.
I'm a little surprised that this didn't come up during the home inspection or the pre-close walk through, but you might not have been present for those to ask about this.
Most homes in northern New England don't have gutters, but some do. It really depends on which direction the roof faces. Many people have gutters (and solar panels) if the main roof faces south and gets full-afternoon sun. Because of the low angle, it doesn't help to melt 'much' but it will melt before the other side that faces north... The formation of ice dams is to be avoided if at all possible, and if ice and snow accumulate above the gutters, they can be damaged, as mentioned below. Look for temporary gutters that you can easily install on a seasonal basis. These would collect the most rain from a valley-area of your roof (where you could collect from 2 instead of 1 roof. Just be sure to remove it before snow flies (late October the latest).
Quote:
Originally Posted by MicheleN311
Hello--
We closed on our new-construction house a month ago in Derry. Husband is living in the house now and the kids and I are moving in at the end of June. I mentioned to him that I'd like to get a rain barrel and he said it might be tough to collect the rainwater from the roof as we have no gutters on the house! Is this typical? The builder (through his agent) told us that he doesn't put them on because of all the snow/ice in the winter breaks them off. Is this something that happens a lot? How do I use a rain barrel without gutters? This is all new to me, so I apologize if you're thinking, "Geez, this lady doesn't know anything at all!" :-)
We have gutters on our house. Just had them installed with heating elements for the ice. I don't like water around the foundation of my house. We have a full walkout basement.
We are also building a new house, and our builder told us exactly what yours did. We were pretty surprised (and skeptical!) initially, but that seems to be typical in the seacoast region also. Ultimately we decided to compromise and put gutters on the back of the house and a diverter (sp?) on the front, over the front door. Our reasoning was that our dogs will go in and out through the sliders and we didn't want them to get (even more) soaked while waiting to come in. Plus we have a full basement and some neighbors have wet basement issues. Plus we want to collect water in barrels for watering our shrubs and plants. We'll see how it goes!
Proper grading and perimeter foundation drain and you shouldnt have issues with water in the basement and no gutters.
Our house only has gutters over the areas where we have a wood deck. The front door has a rain diverter.
This is so true. Sadly many homes are constructed without proper water drainage. This is where a builder/contracter can forget or skimp on price. And the owner/buyer doesn't have a clue as much is buried in ground and not seen.
Speaking of gutters...to the gutter covers actually work with regarding to reducing ice buildup? I mean the ones that the water follows (because of surface tension) but otherwise cover most of the gutter...not just the screens.
Same here. We did not have gutters on our new house. Got them installed by East Coast Gutters. If you clean the gutters in the fall and again in the spring, they'll be fine...
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